[sebas]

Head-fi/ers,

I am new here, and wanted to ask the Etymotics owners (especially ER4S) which of the replaceable parts of these HPs do you need to most often to change? For how long have you owned your etys and how many of the following parts did you need to change? (Considering the number of hours you use those HPs)

a) Black tips
b) Green filters
c) White tips
d) ER20 attenuators

Thanks for you help in advance. I'll use your input when I will order my first etys...

--sebas

 

[Tim D]

ER20 attenuaters have nothing to do with ER4S really. I got an extra pack of white tips and I've had Ety's for a long time really. I haven't even started to use the pristine set of white rubbery tips and still use the old tips which I wash a lot. Soaking them in alchohol works too.

The filters I've also bought one set of replacements...I replace them when I am paranoid and feel that it needs to be swapped and swapped them more than when I probably need it...I stopped getting paranoid and it fixed that issue.

I guess I'll only replace them when I know without reason that theres a clog or they aren't sounding good for sure.

I really don't clog up filters ever so I guess I'm pretty low on the maintenance scale of things. I also don't use the foam tips which I don't think would last as long as rubber tips from lots of use. I've used the black tips once and again with friends and thrown them away afterwards.

I'd have to check when I got my Ety's but it was definitely a good while.

Remember even though to some outsiders, Ety maintenance seems like a big issue...but once you get them I think you'll be happy that there are so many replacable parts with Ety's compared to many other full-size headphones. Many full-size headphones offer replacable earpads at a moderate cost...but how about the cloth filter inbetween the driver and earpad? Or the damping material inside the earcups as in my Beyer DT931 or in many Sennheisers. Or headband material?

 

[fjhuerta]

I have owned my Etys for almost a full year. I haven't changed the tips or the filters. But I am a bit paranoid about the cleaning issue. After one or two listening sessions I clean with soapy water the white tips, let them air-dry, and re-install. They look as good as new.

 

[chych]

The foam tips die QUICKLY, you'll need an extra pack if you use them. Thankfully I just figured out how to make the white tips not hurt my ears anymore (that or I have adapted). I clean the tips occasionally (the black tips get disgusting after a while, cant really clean em)... unfortunately I cleaned my white tips once with that yellow dial soap and now they have this nice disgusting shade of yellow to them from the nice white they once were.

Haven't replaced the filters yet...

 

[MooGoesTheCow]

The only regular maintenance the etys need is replacement of the black foams (if you, like me, prefer them to the silicones). Mine last on average a month per pair. But replacements are relatively cheap, and are readily available in large or small quantities.

The filters rarely need replacement. I've replaced them recently (I've owned them a little over a year or so.) However, I noticed no improvement in sound quality. So I guess they were still okay!

By far the biggest part of owning etys is ear maintenance. Regular daily cleanings, q-tips, and all that good stuff. If you don't do that, you will not get along with these phones.

That being said, I love these phones, and the trouble is worth it. They sound so wonderful

 

[Wes]

Nothing much different to report than the preceding. I've had the ER4s's since July and have used only the white silicone tips. I'm still on the first ones, which are only now beginning to discolor enough so that I will soon be washing them.

Since I live far from the source, I ordered extras of everything. That was overdoing it, but I didn't know in advance what I would go through most quickly. Turns out that I don't clog the green filters quickly (Don Wilson has said here that certain people have earwax that goes gaseous (!) and can clog them rather easily.) and that my earwax is not abundant.

The foam tips I haven't used. Since I am comfortable with the more durable white ones, I'll reserve the foam for quests and my wife.

Conclusion: Accomodating to the Ety maintenance program looks pretty easy to me.

 

[Herakleitus]

The biggest problem with maintaining the Ety's is cleaning the white tips, but that is not a big problem. Just place them in warm, soapy water. -- I can report a funny experience though: I used 'Goo-Gone' to soak them in, figuring that earwax qualifies as 'goo', but the funny thing is that when I came back to retrieve the white tips, they had somehow *absorbed* some of the 'Goo-Gone' and *grown* like those sponge-alligators that kids have!!

 

[Peddler]

I'm hoping that now I have my custom made earmoulds I won't have to ever change the green filters - they are slightly further back in the tube now and are unlikely to come into contact with earwax.

They tend to keep themselves clean - strange eh?